The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker

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The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker
Studio album by
John Lee Hooker
ReleasedJanuary 1960 (1960-01)
RecordedApril 20, 1959
StudioUnited Sound Systems, Detroit, Michigan
GenreBlues
Length43:00
LabelRiverside
ProducerBill Grauer

The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker (also known as The Folk Blues of John Lee Hooker) is an album by blues musician John Lee Hooker recorded in Detroit in 1959[1] and released by Riverside Records in January 1960.[2]

Reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
DownBeat[4]
The Virgin Encyclopedia of The Blues[5]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings[6]

The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings said "Riverside required Hooker to play only acoustic guitar. What motivated this redirection, and in particular the 'classic blues' repertoire on the first album was a view of the blues - you might say a politics of the blues - very much of its time ... though, as always with Hooker the result is not exact commemoration so much as highly personalised allusion".[6]

AllMusic reviewer Richie Unterberger stated: "John Lee Hooker was still churning out R&B-influenced electric blues with a rhythm section for Vee Jay when he recorded The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker, his first album packaged for the folk/traditional blues market. He plays nothing but acoustic guitar, and seems to have selected a repertoire with old-school country-blues in mind. It's unimpressive only within the context of Hooker's body of work; in comparison with other solo outings, the guitar sounds thin, and the approach restrained".[3]

Track listing[edit]

All compositions credited to John Lee Hooker except where noted

  1. "Black Snake" (Blind Lemon Jefferson) – 3:33
  2. "How Long Blues" (Leroy Carr) – 2:14
  3. "Wobblin' Baby" – 2:51
  4. "She's Long, She's Tall, She Weeps Like a Willow" – 2:47
  5. "Pea Vine Special" (Charlie Patton) – 3:10
  6. "Tupelo Blues" – 3:23
  7. "I'm Prison Bound" (Carr) – 3:58
  8. "I Rowed a Little Boat" – 3:28
  9. "Water Boy" – 3:00
  10. "Church Bell Tone" – 3:43
  11. "Bundle Up and Go" – 2:13
  12. "Good Morning Lil' School Girl" (Sonny Boy Williamson I) – 3:38
  13. "Behind the Plow" – 4:22

Personnel[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker (CD reissue notes). Berkeley, California: Original Blues Classics/Riverside Records. 1991. Back cover. OBCCD-542-2/RLP-12-838.
  2. ^ Erlewine, Michael; Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Koda, Cub, eds. (1996). "The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker". All Music Guide to the Blues. San Francisco: Miller Freeman Books. p. 116. ISBN 0-87930-424-3.
  3. ^ a b Unterberger, Richie. John Lee Hooker: The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  4. ^ Ralph, J. Gleason (21 January 1960). "Vocal". DownBeat. Vol. 27, no. 2. p. 35.
  5. ^ Larkin, Colin (1998). The Virgin Encyclopedia of The Blues. London: Random House. p. 280. ISBN 9781448132744.
  6. ^ a b Russell, Tony; Smith, Chris (2006). The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. London: Penguin. p. 270. ISBN 978-0-140-51384-4.
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